*Yulia's POV*
It's almost noon and we don't have an ideal place to rest. Even though with Noir's power, which is basically we don't get tired as long as there's creature but that doesn't mean we don't have to rest. We walked and talked about random things like food, anime, novels and games.
I used the {Sound Appraisal detection} skill and I heard the sound of water rushing from afar, a river. I smiled because we hit the jackpot, as expected from Noir's luck.
(Noir I heard the sound of river over there.)
Pointed my finger where the sound came from. Noir nodded and said
(Let's go there)
As we neared the river, we felt something is watching us. Noir grabbed me and used the {Dream Escape} to teleport us away.
*Boom!*
We were attacked at the speed that I can't even react. The place where they were standing earlier was covered in thick dust and from there the huge Mantis with two giant Scythe that is attached to it's limbs emerged.
Creature: Scythe Mantis
Strength: big building level
Agility: mach 4
Endurance: City block level
Intelligence: intelligent beast
Magic: camouflage, wind
Proficiency: super natural
Proficiency2: disaster
Weakness: When a mantis is molting (shedding its skin), it is immobile, soft-bodied, and completely defenseless.
Phew! Thankfully these monsters can only live in the labyrinth or else each one of these can be a disaster to the world. Noir put me down.
"Yulia stay here, I will take care of it."
He said and he flew away.
"{Black field}"
He created an electromagnetic field hindering the movement of the Mantis. The Mantis tried to slash him with its scythe covered with sharp winds but he managed to dodged it.
"{magnetic force: repulsion}"
An invisible force pushed the Mantis and it smashed to the tree.
*Bang!*
*Scrieeeeech!*
The Mantis Scrieeched as it was screamed in pain.
The tree got a whole because of the impact.
"{Magnetic force: Attraction}"
The Mantis flew towards him against its own will at insane speed.
"{Magnetic force: Repulsion}"
*Bang!*
*Scrieeeeech!*
He smashed the Mantis to the ground from high altitude. It seems that Noir stopped playing, He got down to the ground and walked calmly towards the mantis. He grabbed it's head and ripped it off from its body.
*RIPPED!*
*SPLASH!*
*THUD!*
The purple blood splattered to the ground and the body fell down.
"Let's go Yulia, I'm starving."
"Okay."
Sigh! The gap between us is getting bigger and bigger but it's a good thing to the both of us. The only thing that I can do is to work harder to become even more stronger so I don't get left behind. Now that it seems that this worlds powers is deeper than I thought, the stronger we are the better.
* Sploshsss!, gusssh!.*
We reached the River This river is really huge, the width is roughly a hundred li. We have to be careful because the bigger the river the more dangerous it is.
"Wow! This is the first time I have seen a river this big."
Noir praised.
"Me too."
I don't think that even the Amazon river is as big as this.
*SPLASH!!*
Noir laughed
"Hahahah! The creatures here seems to doesn't have survival instinct. The food seems to deliver itself to us."
I think it's you unmeasurable luck is the reason for lowering the intelligence of your opponent. Like the so called "geniuses" being defeated by the protagonist because of some bullshit.
A big black fish jumped over the river and opened its mouth on us.
Creature: Black River bass
Strength: big building level
Agility: mach 4(in water)
Endurance: City block level
Intelligence: intelligent beast
Magic: water
Proficiency: super natural
Weakness: lightning
(Be careful and don't damage it.) I warned
(I know.)
*CRACKLE! CRACKLE!*
*Zap!*
Noir shot black lightning to the fish. Unlike his usual big and aggressive attacks, it was weaker but it's enough for the fish to lose its consciousness.
(Noir, I'm going to cook this fish. Can you take out the ingredients and utensils that I need?)
"Sure!"
I planned to cook Steamed Fish but I need a big steaming pot to cook this fish.
"Is there something wrong?"
Maybe He noticed that I was silent so He asked.
(Yes, we don't have big utensils to cook what I want to cook.)
"Sigh! I'm going to give myself a hard time."
He said something I couldn't understand so I asked him.
(Why are sighing? What do you mean by giving yourself a hard time.)
"Why are you still talking using telepathy?"
(Mom and the others are watching so I want to confuse them and let them guess what are we talking about, hehe!)
"What I was trying to say is give me the measurements of the utensils you need and I can probably create it."
He said something that stunned me.
"How was that possible?"
I couldn't help but to voice out my question.
"Magic, I need to control my magical energy to the absolute precision to detect the metals in the ground. Forest soil can contain naturally occurring heavy metals like chromium (Cr), arsenic (As), nickel (Ni), and copper (Cu) not to mention that red spot over there."
He pointed his finger to the spot with red soil and I realized.
"Ah! Mineralized ground."
He nodded.
"Exactly, soil containing high concentrations of iron compounds, salts, or conductive minerals that produce a magnetic response, causing significant interference with metal detectors. I am a walking metal detector because of my magic and my mastery over that power increased a lot so it's hard for me to not notice it. I will gather all the metals I need and use Electrolytic refining to process and purify metals using electricity."
I was amazed by his extensive knowledge.
"I never realized that you're this smart."
"How could I enter the academy otherwise?"
Now that I think about it. Noir doesn't have strong psychic powers in the start and he doesn't have family background that can make him entered to the Academy so there's only one answer, his intelligence.
"Lets started to do our work, write everything down to the paper and I will gather and purify metals that we need."
"Okay!"
"{Black Field}"
Noir electromagnetic field to detect and gather metals black dusts emerged from the ground and started to gather.
I on the other hand is estimating the size of the utensils based on the size of the fish. It took time for me to estimate but I managed to finish it. I looked at Noir who is still busy at refining metals and called him using telepathy. I can't go near him because of the intense heat.
(Noir, I finished the estimations and I wrote it all down.)
(Okay, wait a second.)
He stopped refining metals, he came to me and took the paper in my hands.
"I see, I get it."
He walked towards to the refined metals and started molding it into a big steaming pot.
"Phew! Harder than expected but how was it?"
He showed me the giant steaming pot.
"That's good"
I said and gave him a thumbs up. He continued to worked on other utensils for few hours. He finally finished all of it and he gave them to me. I gave him a hug and a slight kiss on the cheek I whispered sweetly in his ears.
"Considered this as thank you for your hard work 亲爱的."
He was stunned and speechless he won't be able to understand the last thing I said tho.
It seems like I forgot something important but well whatever.
[Appraisal Note: Unbelievable, she forgotten that her parents were watching.]
I left him and prepared to cook.
Steamed fish is a classic Chinese New Year dish that represents wealth and good fortune. the character for fish (鱼, yu) which is my name in my previous life is pronounced the same as the character for surplus (余, yu), which expresses the wish for extra wealth and food at the end of the year.
I remembered that my mom almost always served a whole steamed fish for every New Year celebration. I almost memorized Mom's cooking because of it. I really miss them.
I fully scaled the fish from tail to head . I Rinsed the fish with cold water, pat it dry, and score it three to four times on each side about one inch apart. I Placed a quarter of the green onions on a heatproof plate large enough to hold the fish. This creates a base so the fish does not stick during steaming.
I Stuffed sliced ginger and the white part of the green onions into the cavity and scored cuts. Drizzle Shaoxing wine over the fish, season lightly with salt, cover with another quarter of the green onions, and let it rest briefly.
I added water to a deep skillet, steamer, or wok and place a steaming rack inside. Set the plate of fish on the rack, cover, and steam over high heat until the flesh flakes easily, about 5 to 10 minutes. Then I transferred the plate carefully to the counter and discard the cooked ginger and green onions from the top of the fish using chopsticks. Scattered the remaining julienned ginger and green onions over the fish. Keep the seasoned soy sauce nearby and ready to use.
Heat oil in a small pan over medium high heat, add the dried chili peppers and ground Sichuan peppercorns, and cook briefly until sizzling. Pour the hot oil directly over the fish so it sizzles the ginger and green onions. I Immediately drizzled the seasoned soy sauce over the fish so it coats the surface and blends with the hot oil.
The dish was ready and it has a light, clean, and savory scent.
(Noir let's go and eat.)
He nodded and came we ate together but he's still blushing, 可爱的 (cute).